Can Dehydration Cause Snoring and What Can You Do About It?

An individual who suffers with chronic, frequent snoring will usually try just about anything you can imagine to alleviate the problem so that they, along with their partner or spouse, can enjoy a peaceful night’s rest and wake up refreshed the next day.  For example, they might try using bulky or costly headgear or oral appliances made by a dentist to reduce the frequency of their snoring.  Occasionally, OTC remedies may work but these are, at best, unreliable.

Among the many ways you can prevent snoring, one of the most important is staying well hydrated, especially among the hotter climates in the southern and southwestern climates of the country.  It has often been suggested through research studies that there is a correlation between dehydration and snoring.  After all, one of the best weapons a person can use to conquer their snoring issues might just be all around them.

As children, our parents taught us that we need to stay hydrated because the human body is primarily comprised of water and we cannot survive more than 3 or 4 days without this precious substance.  Furthermore, water is an essential nutrient for better health and well-being.  However, are you aware that drinking more water can actually help relieve your snoring?

Common Signs and Symptoms of Dehydration

One of the more common questions that typically arises is “can dehydration cause snoring?” We drink water when we’re thirsty or when our mouths and throats are dry.  However, these are not the only signs or symptoms of dehydration.  An individual suffering from chronic dehydration may be depressed, have frequent headaches, or be overweight, just to name a few issues related to this.

During sleep, dehydration can cause mucus in the mouth and/or throat to thicken and thereby create blockages that lead to snoring.  Not to mention the fact that you could wake up with a mouth or throat irritation.  We recommend using a humidifier when you sleep to keep the air moist.  While this will prevent mouth and throat dryness, it’s important that you increase your hydration levels as well.

In the journal “Chest”, a study was published by Hoffstein and Mateika (1994) that put into the limelight the obstructions in the nasal passages as one of the key factors for snoring. Additionally, dehydration can add to the drying up of the mucus membranes in the nasal passages indirectly increase snoring.

While a study in “American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine” by Jackson et al. (2004) found that viscosity of mucus is maintained by proper hydration in the body, which lowers the risk of air passage obstructions. It showed that when the moisture is adequate in the respiratory track, it is less likely to lead to snoring.

Overcoming Dehydration

Increasing your water intake throughout the day is the best way to fight dehydration.  It’s the only way you’ll ever determine if dehydration and snoring are interrelated.  While the recommendation is drinking a gallon of water a day, you might want to consider adding a pinch of salt to keep you properly balanced and hydrated.  Just be careful not to use too much salt as this will have the opposite effect on you.

Once you’ve achieved the optimum level of hydration, it’s important that you continue and not stop the process.  Additionally, you want to try and avoid stimulants such as alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine whenever possible.  Snoring has long been attributed to these substances because they adversely affect tissues in the mouth, nose and throat.  Plus, they affect your body’s overall hydration levels as well.

Furthermore, where the issue of dehydration and snoring is concerned, foods such as dairy products and red meats can also cause you to become dehydrated.  These are heavier foods that takes the body longer to digest, which means they use more water and thereby make it more difficult for you to fall asleep.  The bottom line is that you need to support healthy hydration levels on a daily basis.

It is recommended by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to drink at least 2.5 to 3 liters of water every day to maintain sufficient levels of hydration. That will ensure that the mucus membranes in the throat and nasal passages are hydrated.

Using a humidifier

When you sleep, using a humidifier in the room can help reduce the drying of the throat tissues and nasal passages. In the Journal of Clinical Sleep medicine (2019), it was found in a study that using humidifiers in drier areas can reduce the intensity of snoring due to nasal congestions caused by dry air and dehydration.

Snoring increases when there is nasal congestion and thick mucus. With increased hydration and use of a humidifier, optimized sleeping position, use of salt rinses and Asonor nasal sprays, snoring can be considerably reduced. Knowing the link between dehydration and snoring is important to develop effective strategies to stop snoring.

Improving Your Quality of Sleep

Drinking enough water is one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways to provide an answer to the question “can dehydration cause snoring?”  While other fluids may help as well, those with too much sugar can also cause you to snore.  Additionally, other fluids, such as the stimulants mentioned above can cause you to lose water as well.  Therefore, you should stick to drinking water whenever possible.

Although increased hydration can significantly alleviate those snoring episodes, there are nasal and throat sprays that can help with the issue as well.  One of the better ant-snoring solutions available today is Asonor Anti-snoring Spray, a product that has been clinically proven effective in 3 out of every 4 cases studied.  If you’ve been searching for a product to relieve your snoring issues, this is it.

To learn more, visit our website or e-mail us at [email protected]. Our customer care representatives are available to take your call and assist you with the requisite assistance.